The Garden
by Sci-fi and Magic
Summary: An alien woman escapes her planet, only to crash land on a planet called Earth, where she is captured by the ten rings due to her strange technology. After being unceremoniously thrown into a cave with two other men, one of which seems to be plugged in to a car battery, she helps them in their bid for freedom.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: A Morning in the Garden

A note: Only my original characters and content belongs to me. Everything else belongs to Marvel and Disney.

* * *

The garden is full of life. It always is, and has been, a sanctuary for a lonely princess. Full of plants from all over the universe, bright colors fill the yard. Insects chirp steadily, calling out to one another in the predawn hours. Leaves of nearby trees rustle in the gentle wind, a song that Mira had been raised on her entire life. Morning dew glistens in the last few rays of moonlight, and she takes a deep breath of the sweet smells of growing things, her thin wings fluttering on her back.

Reaching out with her mind, Mira greets the great willow tree, a souvenir from her mother's favorite planet, that protects the garden with her branches. She rumbles back warmly as the dark haired woman wanders the gravel paths between the flower bushes and fruit trees. She gently strokes the petals of flowers as she passes, rousing the fanged plants that her brother had brought back from a diplomatic mission, then waking patches of herbs with a soft song. Morning birds raise their heads to join her, an opera of whistles and twitters, helping her prepare the plants for the coming day.

Rows of vegetables twitch droplets from their leaves as Mira directs a fleet of watering cans about the yard, keeping a firm eye on the venomous roses as she trims back some of their long branches. She was filling a basket with fresh flowers when the blooms above her let out a hiss of warning. Mira glanced behind her as she sensed a presence in the garden.

"Lord Sylvos," She eyed him cautiously as he picks his way through her sanctuary. "Can I help you with something?" She glanced up at the just rising twin suns. "It is awfully early for a social call."

"Princess Miralynn. It seems you have been… hard at work." He sneered down at the dirt and dust upon her gown, his deep burgundy eyes showing disgust.

"Yes." She stood, brushing herself off. "My flowers called for attention this morning. Quite a usual start, for me. I do not typically receive guests so early, though. Is something the matter? Does my brother need me for something?" Mira shifts a little closer to the rose bush that she had been so tenderly working on just moments before, reaching behind her to make gentle contact with one of its thorny branches. She could sense that something was wrong, her plants were shifting uneasily, trying to warn her of something.

"Oh, Princess," Sylvos chuckled. "Sometimes I forget how very young you are."

"Not so young. I came of age more than a few years ago." She lifted her chin in defiance, shifting further into the roses as they began to hiss in warning. Sylvos froze in the midst of his slow steps forward, now just a little further than an arm's reach in front of the princess.

"Yes, you certainly have become quite the woman." He gave a sinister smile. "And are certainly eligible to take the throne."

Mira narrowed her eyes, tense. "The throne belongs to my brother, Lord Sylvos, as you very well know, being his adviser. What do you think you are playing at?"

He stepped forward once more. "I think you'll find, Princess, that the throne did belong to your brother. However, there has been an unfortunate occurrence in the night, and the good King Leonis finds himself no longer among the living."

Mira felt her knees weaken, she had to fight to stay standing. The bushes behind her reached forward and gently supported her. "By the goddesses, it cannot be."

"But it is, your brother is dead, and you are next in line to the throne." He snatched her limp wrist in his own spidery hands, bulling her from her greenery. The roses snapped and bit at his fingers, but he managed to drag them away. "And as the next in line, it is your duty to marry and produce an heir. It is also your duty to find a suitable host for the Fire that you carry."

"What? No!" Mira yanked her hand out of his grasp. "The Fire belongs with me, the goddesses chose me."

"You know the laws, 'no ruler shall have power greater than their station demands'. I'd say that the gift of life is far too much power for a consort to have."

"Consort?!" Mira was fuming. "I will be Queen."

"No," Sylvos said, malice in his face. "For when you marry me, I will be King."

Mira shook her head. "Never, I will never marry you. I know that you want the Fire, you have been after it since it was granted to me as a child." She felt her hands growing warm as energy built up beneath the skin. "It will never belong to you!" Raising her arms, Mira directed a blast of multicolored fire towards the man, running as he fought off the flames, her plants reaching and tearing at his legs. _Run, Mira!_ Her garden called. _Don't let him catch you!_

Mira ran through the royal gardens into the palace, hearing the man her brother had trusted so much shouting for his guards to catch her. Maids, ushered her past, standing in the way of the heavily armed soldiers as they chased after her. She sprinted, barefoot and clad only in her dirty gardening dress and her circlet, which allows her to connect to the various interfaces around the palace and on her ship. Skidding into the large garage where her shuttle is kept, Mira directed the doors to open and shut behind her. Falling into the spacecraft, she hauled herself into the pilot's seat and started the engines. Taking off, Mira took one last look at her kingdom, her planet. And she then let the tears fall.

* * *

It had been a long journey. Mira was constantly checking her sensors to see if anyone was following her. In her desperation, Mira had not known who she could trust, her brother was dead and the man they had put so much faith in had been the one to have him killed, so she went towards the planet that her mother had loved so much, but had never been able to take Mira to. Planet C-53. Mira believes that the locals call it "Earth."

Mira had been traveling for days, weeks, she had almost lost track of time. Starting to run a little low on fuel and supplies, the princess was stretching her remaining rations thin, struggling to make it last the next day or so she had left.

Sighing and slumped back into her seat, she stretched out her cramped legs. Her shuttle had not been meant for such a long journey, it had been made to protect her short-term if she needed an escape in an emergency. As such, there was not much more to the small craft than the pilot's station, a cramped bunk, and a small bathroom unit that was nothing but the necessities. She had been living off of emergency ration bars and recycled water, and she was looking forward to the next warm meal she could get her hands on.

As she had been drifting, Mira had made sure that she has been able to incorporate as many of Earth's languages into the translator function in her circlet. The piece of technology was invaluable in maneuvering her way through unfamiliar languages and technology, as it filtered information that she needed to know directly into her brain. As a specialized telepath, Mira could commune with plants, an ability she had had since birth, and technology, an ability gained through endless practice and the help of the circlet in the center of her forehead. The silver of the delicate chain that wove itself through her hair gleamed in the dim light of the shuttle. The small round moonstone that was the centerpiece of the piece of jewelry was imprinted to her genetic code and could only be disabled or removed from her person if she decided to take it off herself, so Mira was not concerned about it being stolen, in fact, she was relieved to have a piece of her heritage so permanently displayed. It was the only thing of home she had managed to bring with her.

It hit her then. She had no money, no family, nothing to support herself with once she arrived on the planet. She could not sell parts of her ship, for the technology is ages ahead of where she heard c-53 was at the moment. Mira closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the seat. _I will figure it out. _She told herself. _It could be so much worse._

And it could be. She could still be on her planet, being forced to marry Sylvos, the slime, and watching as he destroyed all that her family had built. A tear made its way down the exhausted woman's face as she pictured her people being driven to ruin under the insane man. She tried to tell herself that he would take care of them, there's no sense ruling over ruin, but couldn't quite believe it. A man who would kill his own king for power couldn't possibly have the people's best interests in mind.

As more tears joined the first, Mira tucked her bare toes up under her thin dress and fell asleep in the pilot's seat, dreams of capture and ruin greeting her in the dark.

She awoke to the blaring of alarms. Sitting upright, and ignoring the sharp pinch of muscles that had been compressed in one position for too long, Mira quickly looked around for the source of the noise, gasping as she caught sight of the blue planet taking up the entirety of her viewing screen. It was Earth. She had made it!

The alarms once again caught her attention. Flicking off certain deep-space traveling necessities and preparing for landing, Mira saw that she was now out of fuel. _Okay_, she thought, _going to be a rough landing_. The princess quickly tied her long curls back over her shoulder, the midnight tresses tangling in her fingers, and then strapped herself in, preparing to manually guide the small ship down to safety. She felt the tug as she entered the gravity of the planet and it began pulling her, faster and faster towards the surface. By no means a master pilot, Mira did her best to guide her craft towards land, seeing that the majority of this world was filled with endless water, but was soon struggling to keep her eyes open, the pressure of entering the atmosphere at the speed she was threatening to knock her out. She saw lights on the land and, as she grew closer, mountains and oceans of golden sand.

She pulled up the best she could as she hit the ground, the safety features of her ship protecting her from the majority of the crash. She felt something in her arm snap as she was thrown into the control panel, then something struck her in the head and darkness took her with a burning as she felt hot blood on her temple.

When she started to come to, Mira realized that her arms were being squeezed painfully and that her her feet were being scraped raw as they were dragged behind her. She drifted in and out, her eyes never quite able to focus. Closing them, Mira let herself be drug along by the hands, she could feel the fingers now, that gripped her just under the shoulders. Her left forearm burned, and she remembered the painful snap she had felt. Broken? She wondered. Her temple itched where she could feel blood drying and flaking off. She attempted to refocus her mind. She could hear voices, but her head was not yet clear enough to connect to her translator. She felt her toes be drug over what felt like a metal doorway, and the light darkened considerably. She now felt what could be smooth stone underneath her, and she felt the people dragging her come to a stop. Quiet voices, with an underlayer of tension arose, and Mira realized that the group of people around her were gathered around in a cavern. Letting her eyes flick back open, though still out of focus, she observed the gathering of men around her, all watching as a bald man spoke to one that seemed to have a blue light emanating from his chest. Mira watched as the bald man suddenly began speaking to someone else, the pace of his words shifting. Another language? She was not yet sure of what they were saying. He directed some of the others from the group around her to pull a small man in glasses over to a metal surface, the previously steady voices beginning to rise in panic, and she finally was able to shake off the fog in her brain enough to connect to her translator.

The bald man was now holding a hot coal from a metal container next to Glasses' face, and the man struggled to pull away from the hands holding him down. The man wearing the blue light suddenly stepped forward, and all of the men in the chamber surged forward, making him freeze in place.

"I need him." He said. Mira listened as her translator told her that he was speaking in a language called English. "As an assistant." The bald man dropped the ember next to Glasses, gazing at the glowing man thoughtfully, as though he hadn't just been trying to burn another person.

"An assistant. I suppose you need this one, too?" He gestured to the men holding Mira, who suddenly pitched her onto the floor between the two men talking. "Is she a spy, perhaps? Sent to find you? The craft she was in contains technology that we have never seen before. She could only be one of yours."

No. No. They couldn't have her ship.

"Not mine, but I'll use her." The glowing man said, the tilt of his chin defiant, dark eyes taking in Mira's tattered dress and twisted arm. Her green eyes met his brown, concern flowing between them before Mira's suddenly hardened. She let her lids fall closed and focused on the signal of her ship, which felt like it had been brought along to a place just on the other side of this cavern. She connected to the computer and gave it a command.

_Confirm command, Princess?_ The computer asked. She answered it aloud, in her native language, and felt all of the men in the room turn to her at her alien words.

"Self Destruct, initiate."

The resulting explosion rattled the cave, and the men turned and ran to see what had caused it, leaving Mira on the floor. The bald man stood above her, his eyes narrowed, before turning and walking towards the exit with his men. He called back to them over his shoulder.

"You have till tomorrow to assemble my missile." And then he was gone. Mira was left in the cavern with these two men, who seemed to be just as captive as she was.

"What was that?" The glowing man asked, looking at her and then back at Glasses.

"I do not know." Glasses knelt down next to her, taking in her broken arm and barely focused eyes. "Are you alright?"

Mira pushed herself up with her good arm, pulling her still bare feet beneath her. "Yes, for the most part." The words felt strange in her mouth, as any newly learned language does, and she saw them trying to work out her strange accent. She took the chance to look around the cave. There was metal scattered everywhere, with fire and tools to build. In one corner was a rickety bed of sorts, a small table, and some folding chairs. Clearly, the men had been in here a while. Looking behind her, Mira gazed at the heavy metal door barring the exit.

The glowing man joined them on the ground. "What's your name?"

She eyed him a moment. "P- Miralynn."

He gave her a soft smile, tinged with bitterness. "I'm Tony. This is Yensen. Welcome to the cave. Where'd you come from?" The newly named Tony and Yensen helped her up and sat her in one of the few folding chairs, Yensen softly asking to look at her arm. She nodded to the quiet man and focused on Tony's question.

She gave an equally bitter smile. "Far away." He looked dissatisfied, but she wasn't going to tell an earthling that she was from an alien plant galaxies away. "Ow!" She turned her head to look at Yinsen, who was doing his best to inspect her arm.

"Sorry, miss," He murmured in a much different accent than Tony. "But I am afraid that your arm is broken."

She winced. "Yes, I had thought so when I felt it during the crash-" She cut herself off, not meaning to say that much.

"Crash?" Tony asked. "Did you fly here? Is that what they meant by the craft with the crazy technology?"

Nervously, and still quite shaken by the hit she took to the head, Mira tried to come up with an answer. "Um-"

Yinsen cut her off. "Miralynn, is there glitter in your blood?" His voice was mildly concerned.

"Um," Mira looked down at her arm, panicked. "No?"

He looked closer and she had to resist the temptation to rip her arm away from him. "Yes, there is. And your blood isn't quite the right color, either." Mira, now becoming frantic, tried not to shake in fear. "How did this happen?"

"Strange tech, glittery blood…" Tony mused. "Are you an alien?" His voice was playful, clearly meaning to make a joke to break the tension, but his gaze snapped up when Mira froze involuntarily. "What… Really?!" He scooted back a couple of paces.

Mira winced and scrunched her eyes shut, her good hand coming up to touch her circlet. Damn, she had lasted half a conversation. Good job, princess, she thought to herself. Way to keep a secret! "Yes. Really." No point in denying it.

"What-"

"Does it really matter? I'm stuck in here the same as you." She glanced again around the cave, avoiding eye contact. "Where is here anyway?"

* * *

Thanks, everyone, for reading! To clear up any confusion from people who may have read my first couple of chapters already, I have combined the first three segments of this story in order to have a chapter of more reasonable length. I hope you enjoyed it! - RacEMadd


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Night in the Cave

A note: Only my original characters and content belongs to me. Everything else belongs to Marvel and Disney.

* * *

The stares of the two humans were starting to make Mira's skin crawl. Rolling her shoulders to relieve some of the built up stress, Mira accidentally relaxed the muscles of her back, letting her thin wings flutter out of the folds of her dress, where they had been successfully tucked away. Fortunately, the glittery membranes had taken the crash landing far better than her arm had, so nothing in the delicate structures was broken. A few small cuts marred the iridescent surface of her long, thin wings, but no real damage had been dealt.

Seeing that the two men had notices the wings poking out of the back of her dress, which were not typical to humans, judging by their pale faces and gaping jaws, Mira relaxed fully, allowing the appendages to extend to their full length, the ends brushing the back of her calves. The wings were a faint green, the edging being of a darker shade than the rest, and seemed to shimmer with faint rainbows as the firelight reflected on them.

"What…" The man named Tony said again, taking a few steps forward. Flinching back, Mira kept suspicious eyes on him. "Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to scare you." His eyes were gentle, wide with amazement, despite the situation that they all found themselves hostage in.

Mira shifted her still folded wings back under the fabric of her dress self-consciously so that only the ends were visible under the torn hemline. She tilted her chin up in false confidence. "I'm not afraid." Her eyes flicked around the cave, ignoring the still gaping Yinsen. "Can you tell me who those men are?"

"Terrorists," Tony murmured, his voice much lower than it had been. "They cause fear, destruction. They want me to build them weapons." He was frowning, his face regaining the hardness that Mira had seen a little while before, when he was arguing for the sake of the other man's life.

Mira tilted her head. "Are you a weapons maker?"

He snorted. "You could say that." He paced back and forth in front of where she stood. "They took the weapons I made and are using them against my own people." Glancing at Yinsen. "Against many peoples."

"And they want you to build more for them?"

He nodded. Mira, still trying to understand the situation she had landed in, mirrored the motion. "Okay. And you will not, because they will use them to hurt your people. So, why are you still here? What leverage do they have over you?"

He clenched his jaw. Yinsen put a hand on his shoulder, leading him away from where she was standing so that they could have a heated, whispered conversation.

Mira collapsed onto an overturned box, taking a moment alone to try and collect herself. _Okay. I made it to Earth. Now I am trapped with the same sorts of people that I ran from. _She glanced back at the two arguing men. _I lasted about five seconds as an undercover alien. Something about these people reaches out to me._ She felt a slight tugging in her soul, the Fire trying to give her a message. It wasn't a painful pulling, as it sometimes was when she was being warned, but something gentler, softer. The Fire was telling her to trust these men.

Tony suddenly knelt down in front of her. She met his eyes and then those of Yinsen, over his shoulder. "We're still here because we are getting out. Tonight."

The rest of the day passed in a flurry of pounding hammers and heated metal. Mira tried her best to help, but the two mainly directed her to organizing and holding things, and she was too out of her element to argue. They showed her the plans, this was what they had been arguing about, which showed the assembly of a metal man-shaped suit, apparently intended to be worn by Tony and powered by the strange blue light in his chest.

When the pieces were finished and the wiring completed, they began helping Tony strap on the suit, the thin woman struggling to help tighten bolts with one arm out of commission. Yinsen and Mira had rigged an explosive at the door as a precaution to people coming in, and they were nervously waiting for the computer to finish.

_Computer_, Mira reached out with her mind. _How's it going?_

_Working on it, Lady_. The slow, droning voice replied. She let out a shaky breath and shook her head when Yinsen turned to check on her. He went back to strapping Tony in.

"Okay? Can you move?" Tony nodded, clenching his hands and moving his arms underneath the heavy metal. "Okay, say it again." Yinsen was anxiously going over the plan.

"Forty one steps straight ahead. Then sixteen steps, that's from the door, fork right, thirty three steps, turn right." Mira could read the nervous energy pouring off of the men. It was infectious, and she continued glancing towards the door as the two of them tightened the bolts around the man, securing him in place.

She met Tony's eyes. "Be careful, Tony." He gave her a shaky smile and a jerky nod.

A sudden yelling could be heard. "Yinsen! Yinsen! Stark!"

"Say something." Tony whispered. "Say something back to him."

Yinsen was frantic as the two of them tried to work faster. "He's speaking Hungarian. I don't…"

"Then speak Hungarian."

"Okay. I know."

"What do you know?"

Yinsen shouted something back at the door. Mira, focused on her work, could not tell what it was, only that the men outside were angry and shouting back.

Then, there was an explosion. One of the men had tried to open their trapped door.

"How'd that work?" Tony asked.

"Oh, my goodness." Yinsen said, looking around Tony to see a gaping hole in the wall.

"It worked all right."

"I'd say." Mira added, eyes wide and ears ringing.

"That's what I do." Tony told them, a nervous smile on his face.

"Let me finish this." Mira said, tightening the last few bolts.

"Initialize the power sequence." Tony told them.

Yinsen jumped up to the computer. "Okay. Tell me. Tell me."

Mira kept half an ear listening to the sluggish computer as Tony gave Yinsen directions.

"Function 11. Tell me when you see a progress bar." Yinsen was shaking. "It should be up right now."

"Yes."

"Talk to me. Tell me when you see it." Tony was forcing himself to be calm.

"I have it."

"Press Control "l"."

""I." Got it."

" "I." "Enter." "l" and "Enter." Mira, button me up."

Mira's fingers flew over the suit, fastening the last few pieces."Okay. All right."

"Every other hex bolt." She glanced up at him.

"Yes, I know." Their eyes locked, fear and adrenaline running through the irises. Tony swore he saw rainbows in her green depths.

"They're coming!" Yinsen cried out.

Tony nodded at her. "Nothing pretty, just get it done." She worked as fast as she could as Yinsen came over to help. "Just get it done."

"They're coming." He was frantic. As soon as the bolts were all tightened, he flew back to the computer.

"Make sure the checkpoints are clear before you follow me out, okay?" Tony told them.

Yinsen shook his head. "We need more time." He whipped around, taking in Mira's pale face and bandaged arm, still doing her best to help Tony get ready. "Hey, I'm gonna go buy you some time."

"No!" Mira said, firmly.

Tony was in agreement. "Stick to the plan!" Yinsen ran towards the hole in the wall. "Stick to the plan!"

"Yinsen!" Mira cried as he left the room. Gunfire quickly followed.

Tony glared at the computer, still under halfway finished. Mira followed his gaze and thinned her lips.

"Right." She pulled herself up and rushed over to the piece of ancient technology.

"Mira?" Tony sounded worried, as if he was concerned that she was about to rush out as well.

Pulling both arms in front of her, ignoring the pain of the broken left one, Mira placed them both firmly on the keyboard, closing her eyes. She took every scrap of energy she had left, called upon every spark of the Fire, and pushed it through her fingertips. Suddenly, the progress bar shot quickly through its process, leaving Tony gaping. As the loading finished, the lights cut out and Mira collapsed, panting, on the dirt.

"Mira!" He hissed as the face mask to the suit closed over his face. She pulled herself onto her knees and crawled over to the side, just in time for men to come rushing into the cave.

Then, Tony attacked. He knocked out everyone that had invaded their cave, pulled Mira back to her feet, and rushed towards the exit. "Stay close!" He called out.

The two of them rushed through the tunnels, bullets flying around them. Mira did her best to stay behind Tony, keeping the protective metal between her and the ammunition, but did catch a stray bullet in her injured shoulder, almost knocking her to the ground.

Tony beat down a metal door standing in their way. Swinging his arm at one of the men, he missed, getting the heavy suit wedged into the stone of the walls. A man tried to shoot him, but the bullet bounced and killed the shooter instead. Pulling his arm free, the metal giant continued to lead Mira down the halls, keeping them moving forward towards the exit.

They turned the corner.

"Yinsen!" Tony cried, rushing over to the man bleeding on the floor. Mira hurried behind him, stumbling over her feet and cursing her lack of energy. _If I weren't out of Fire, I could help him._

"Watch out!" Yinsen cried as the bald man from before shot what seemed to be a rocket at them. Tony and Mira dodged out of the way and Tony fired a rocket of his own at the man, causing the cave to collapse on top of him. Mira's heart had never beat so fast.

They turned back to their dying friend. "Stark." He got out. "Mira."

"Come on," Tony said. "We got to go." Mira could see the desperation in his eyes as she moved to take Yinsen's hand. "Move for me, come on. We got a plan, we're gonna stick to it."

"This was always the plan, Stark." Yinsen whispered, giving Mira a sad smile as she let tears fall.

"Come on, you're gonna go and see your family. Get up." His eyes were growing glassy.

"My family is dead. I'm going to see them now, Stark." He gave Mira's hand a soft squeeze. "It's okay. I want this. I want this."

Tony let out a soft noise. "Thank you for saving me."

"Us." Mira said.

"Us." Tony agreed.

"Don't waste it. Don't waste your lives." He let out a last gasping breath, then was still.

"_May the Sisters watch over you in your slumber._" Mira murmured a prayer from home and pressed a soft kiss to the man's forehead. Glancing up, she saw the devastation and fury in Tony's brown eyes before he turned to the exit of the cave.

The men outside opened fire, the bullets ricocheting off of the metal suit. Tony stood for a moment, taking it all in, and then retaliated with a wave of fire.

"My turn." He walked along, burning everything around him, destroying the weapons that Mira could see were tagged with the name that Yinsen kept calling him. Stark.

Flicking open her wings and unfolding them fully for the first time since she boarded her shuttle, Mira watched the destruction numbly. With a push, she used what little bit of strength left within her to launch into the air and began flying in the direction that they had agreed upon going, trusting the man to catch up with her. She looked back at the sound of a large explosion and let out a relieved smile as she saw the metal form rising from the flames and smoke.

Glancing down at the flames, Mira wondered if this was what her home would look like, whenever she made it back.

She tracked Tony as he suddenly began to fall, flying in the direction of his crash landing and praying to all three of the goddesses that he was alright.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: A Sandy Stroll

note: Only my original characters and content belongs to me. Everything else belongs to Marvel and Disney.

* * *

She landed in the sand beside the rubble of Tony's suit, collapsing to her knees as her legs gave out. She was so low on energy, she doubted she could manage to do much to help him if he was hurt.  
"Are you… okay?" She panted out, reaching a hand out to help pull him the rest of the way out of the sand.

"Yeah." He panted, falling to the sand beside her. Together, they rested in the dunes for a moment, breathing deeply and not daring to believe that their crazy plan had worked. "We should probably keep moving."

"Probably." Neither of them moved. Mira took stock of where they were at. They were standing in the middle of what appeared to be nowhere (but not Knowhere, which she had heard her brother speak about in passing. The reminder of him sent a pang of grief through her heart, but she knew that now was not the time to grieve), surrounded by sand and dry land leading up to a horizon of equally dry looking mountains. She was suffering from a broken arm, the various cuts and bruises from her not so elegant landing, was dangerously low on Fire energy, and was ready to collapse due to a major bout of exhaustion. She doubted that she would be able to get back up in the air to fly any further even if she wanted to, which she did not, as that would mean leaving the human behind to fend for himself and Mira had grown attached to him in the brief period of time that they had known one another. Tony was covered in cuts and bruises from the crashing of his suit, particularly around his shoulders and face. The device in his chest pulsed, as if to remind them that it was there.

Tony sighed. "Not bad."

Mira raised an eyebrow, but she agreed. It could have been much worse. _At least Yinsen is with his family now_. She was feeling a bit numb, pushing back the grief from losing so much in such a short period of time. _Stop it, Mira, you can grieve when you are safe._

Eventually, the two of them managed to pull themselves to their feet, Mira wincing at the pain in her broken left arm. Harsh rays beat down upon them from above as they walked unsteadily, torn pieces of cloth pulled over their heads to protect them from the sun. It seemed as if they were walking for days as the hours bled together into a constant struggle to put as much distance between the two of them and the now destroyed den of bad guys. Mira felt around with her mind for plant life to help give her more energy, but what little there was was brittle and not willing to help her. _Terrible conversationalists_, she thought grumpily, glaring at a small patch of crispy grass.

"So, Mira." Tony panted as the trudged through the sand. "Where'd you come from?" There was curiosity mingled with the grief and pain in his eyes.

She looked over him, carefully debating.

"I mean," He started. "I already know you aren't from around here- "

Suddenly, as they crested the top of a dune, Mira started at a loud roaring that came from behind them. A metal craft of some sort was hovering in the air by a pair of spinning blades.

"Hey!" Tony shouted up at them. "Hey!" Mira drew close to him as he collapsed to his knees, pulling her wings tightly against her back to hide them under the tattered remains of her dress. As the craft landed a short way in front of them, five figures hopped out and ran to where they were sitting, all of them wearing what appeared to be some sort of uniform and carrying weapons. Mira assumed that they were some sort of military presence and stepped a bit closer to her companion.

Before they could get close enough to hear, Mira whispered to Tony, "Friends?" He nodded. "Will they be friends of mine?" Gesturing to the abnormal (by human standards) blood staining her makeshift bandage.

Tony's eyes grew determined and steely. "I'll make sure of it. Just stick with me, dragonfly."

The men arrived, the one in the middle staring down at Tony with obvious relief in his dark eyes. "How was the 'fun-vee'?" he asked, a hint of sarcasm mixed with exasperation audible.

Tony gave a soft chuckle of hysteria as the man clapped a hand on his shoulder and then knelt down to be on their level. "Next time you ride with me, okay?" He then pulled Tony into a hug without waiting for a response. Tony gripped onto the man, tears of exhaustion and relief starting to make their way down his face.

Behind Tony, Mira's legs gave out as she shifted a bit awkwardly, causing her to fall to the ground and drawing the men's attention to her small figure. She stared up at them, vibrant green eyes drawing their released the man and turned to help her sit back up. "You okay, Mira?"

"I'll be okay, just tired." She gave him a weak smile, still watching the group cautiously.

"Don't worry, ma'am." Tony's friend told her. "We're going to get the two of you out of here, you'll have plenty of time to rest." He held out his hand to help pull her to her feet. "James Rhodes, at your service."

She smiled, accepting the help. She could sense that he was not a threat to her, at least not at the moment. "My name is Miralynn."

The two of them were ushered onto the flying craft, which then took them to a large human dwelling, seemingly used to practice medicine. Once they were inside, groups of what Tony called 'doctors', what Mira understood to be healers of a sort, tried to separate them for treatment, but Tony refused. "Either you treat us together or not at all," He told them firmly, taking Mira's good hand in his own and staring them down.

"Tony…" Rhodes started, gazing at him in concern.

Tony cut him off. "I mean it, I told her that we would stick together. She's not from around here, I'm going to help her out."

Seeing that Tony was serious, and that neither of them needed too extensive of treatment, the doctors reluctantly allowed them to stay together, bandaging up their scrapes and bruises and splinting Mira's arm. There was some surprise at Mira's biological differences, but any inquisitions were shut down by Tony or Rhodes, who Mira was liking more and more with each interaction. Once the doctors were satisfied that they had treated every injury the two had sustained, they were left alone in a small room with a pair of beds. Sitting on one gingerly, Mira watched as Tony collapsed upon his, letting out an almost suggestive groan at the feeling of the mattress. Mira giggled, drawing his attention to her. He gave her a soft smile. "Get some sleep, Mira, we're headed out in the morning, back to my place."

Mira nodded, appreciating that he was doing so much to help her. "Tony?"

"Hmm?" His voice was drowsy.

"Thank you." And with that, she lay back on the bed. All it took was her head coming in contact with the soft pillow for her to be sound asleep, not waiting for a response from her roommate.

The next morning, the two of them, along with Rhodes, were loaded onto a much larger air vessel, which Mira was informed would take them to a place called 'California'. During the flight, Mira listened with delight as Rhodes told her stories of the two of them in college and what mischief they had gotten into. Eventually, the plane circled to a landing in a flat area Mira identified as a landing zone.

"Here we go," Tony whispered to her as they prepared to disembark. "Just stick close to me."

A ramp was lowered and Tony was rolled out in a wheeled chair, Mira hesitantly following and sticking as close to the man as possible, gazing around her at the airport in wonder. Before they exited the craft, Rhodes helped Tony stand and walk as steadily as possible towards a small group of people who seemed to be waiting on them. "Watch it, coming up here." He murmured quietly to Tony as they stepped off of the ramp and onto the pavement. A pair of people in uniform came walking up with what seemed to be some sort of medical bed on wheels.

"Are you kidding me with this?" Tony asked. "Get rid of them." Rhodes reluctantly waved them away as Tony continued on to stand in front of a beautiful woman with coppery-blonde hair and eyes tinged red wearing a suit of some kind. _Professional_? Mira thought that it more resembled the clothing that Tony was wearing than the uniforms of the other people around them. She assumed this was the "Pepper" that Tony had mentioned before.

"Hmm." The man in question said as he approached the woman at a steady pace. "Your eyes are red. A few tears for your long-lost boss?"

She gave him a challenging smile, relief hidden not so well in her eyes. "Tears of joy. I hate job hunting." She looked up at Mira with a bit of confusion.

"Yeah, vacation's over." He looked between the women for a moment. "Oh, uh… Pepper, this is my new friend, Miralynn. She's… not from around here, so she's going to come stay with me for a while until I can help her get set up."

Pepper nodded slowly. "Okay." She held out a hand to Mira, who glanced at Tony for instruction. He just smiled at her, so Mira reached out and took Pepper's hand in one of her own. The woman moved their clasped fingers up and down, griping firmly, but not too tightly, before letting go. _This must be a traditional greeting_, Mira supposed. "It is nice to meet you, Mira."

"You as well, Pepper."

Pepper took note of their bandaged and tired forms and ushered them into the smaller craft behind her, this one designed to move on the ground, it seemed.

"Where to sir?" The man sitting in the front of the vehicle asked.

"Take us to the hospital, please, Happy." Pepper answered for him.

"No." Tony interjected.

"No?" The woman was incredulous. "Tony you have to go to the hospital, the doctor has to look at you."

"No is a complete answer, I don't _have_ to do anything." He nervously reached out and grabbed Mira's hand, but kept his voice firm. "I've been in captivity for three months. There are two things I want to do. I want an American cheeseburger," (Here Mira was confused, _what is a cheeseburger_?) "and the other-"

Pepper cut him off, turning away. "That's enough of that."

"- is not what you think. I want you to call for a press conference now."

She whipped back around, alarming Mira a bit and causing her to tighten her grip on Tony's hand. This was not missed by Pepper, but she focused on what Tony was saying. "Call for a press conference?"

"Yeah."  
"What on earth for?"  
Tony looked back at their driver. "Hogan, drive. Cheeseburger first." He turned to Mira. "We'll get you one, too, you'll love it."

Mira gave a small smile back to him, and then let it turn sheepish as she made eye contact with his disbelieving assistant. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

AN: I hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter and that everyone is doing okay getting through the corona virus pandemonium. The good thing about being confined to home is that I might have some extra time to write! Well wishes to everyone - Sci-Fi and Magic


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